Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1887-04-07

ua. AhSm mat. My mind
wandered again. My mother waited
ior me; | must hurry home; but / was
oo9la oy a chain, in outer darkness
Snd 1 was going to die. There was no
CHRISTIAN IN all the land to succor me
- was forgotten and forsaken. left in
tne pit-and | would unclasp INV
nands n fall and die. No, / would
AL a once more. "Helpl helm
As my iainting voice died in the dark
oepths and quivered up to the olim.
mering sky, i felt hope die with II and
l gave up all thought of life. turned
my eyes toward my grave below, and
with parched lips:
out OF the depths have Icried unto
thee, o Lordp'
Inc little rill that had saved NV life
hitherto still trickled on, and its sill
very murmur, as it dropped on the
rocks below vas the sole sound that
oroke the deathly silence around me
My prayer was over, and I had not
reiinquished my hold. | was stronger
than had deemed myself. | would
cry out again. Help helpl helpi"
stopped. listened. Asound was
noating n the wind. Coming, coming.
loining the drip, drip, drip OF the riIl@
tnen dying. then returning. Listening
with my whole being, / recognized the
sound Beiis-chuch bells-chimes
Ginning in the New Year. 80, God,
nave mercy on me- have mercy on NELL
bells ringing N the new year-bells
Ginning ! n the ears of friends. telling of
sadness and hope-bells clashing in at
merry intervals between music and
laughter, loving greetings, kisses and
Joy.
VIII no one in my fathers house
take pity on me? Am | missed no.
where9 The bells chime a feasting
and gladness, and | am here hanging
between life and death. The laws OF
the grave are beneath me, my Joints
are broken and the bells chime on.
Would 1t not be a good deed on this
New fear'sday to save me? Oh, feast
ers and reveiers, hear mel
Help, hep. 1t is Christmas time.
Help. for Christ's sake, good people,''
The bells float nearer and drown the
GRIP OF the ~trickllng water, and | cry
Help. help" saying, NOW will i call
TIL die A film grows overmy eyes,
but my voice is strong and desperate,
as lshout, Observation-Disclosures hrists
sake, help, good Christians,"
A great light-a flash of fire, For a
moment deem it death; gazing up
ward ] see, amid a glare OF torches,
faces-0 they were angels to me-eag-
er faces peering downward. And close
to me swings a torch, let down into
the depths; its light falls on my bag
gard faee-a great shout rends the
night sky.
He is here, he is safe,-he liyes!"
cannot speak, though my lips
move, and my heart stands still as /
see one, two, three daring men swing
themselves over the abyss-miners,
used to danger-and in a moment
stout arms are around me and | am
borne upward, carried gently like a
child, placed an instant on my feet,
and then laid tenderly down on the
earth. / am so weary, and faint, and
worn, that | lie with closed eyes, new
err striving to say a word oil thanks.
go not so near the brink. madam,
/ e~ntreati" / hear a voice cry sharp
ly. Then | open my aching lids, and
between me and the shaft kneels a
white figure; between me and the sky
there bends a white face. and tears
fall down upon my brow fast and
warm. 1t was my betrothed, Florian.
But even when she stole her little
hand III mlne-mlne so cramped and
numbed that it gave no response to her
tenderness-and even when she stoop-
ed and pressed her lips to my cheek, |
could not breathe a word to thank
her.
Yet Florian, dear wife, let me tell thee
now thatfrom the depths ofmy happy
heart there rose a hymn of Joy, and |
understood from that moment that
thou vert mine, and | 1--WE my life to
thy love.
Then thy sweet lips breathed words
that fell upon my soul like mama
words of tenderness and pity that
made the torture of those slow hours
in the pit fade away, so mighty did
this reward seem for my sufferings.
| was carried TO Trevesky, and as
the men bore me along, you walking
by my side, | heard them tell the tale
of my servants fright when my horse
returned home alone, and how they
came TO your father for tidings OF me.
Then they whispered of the painful
search through the day and night, the
tracking of my horses hoois upon the
snow, and the story of the scared
peasant; who all night long had heard
the cry of tortured ghosts issuing
from the earth. And the sad story
seized upon my Florian with deadly
fear, and turning back upon the black
moor she tracked the hoof marks I'M
til they stopped upon the brink OF the
forgotten shaft, the shaft of the work
ed-out mine, well named the Great
Wheal Mercy.
There | was found and saved by her
] had loved so long. And, dearest, as
| slowly came back to life that New
Years morning and family whispered
TO you of my pent-up sorrow, you, ] n
your great pity, thinking OF my suffer
ing in the shat, poured out all your
maiden heart. And your loving words,
my Fiorian, we're sweeter to me than
ever the thrilling Spring had been N
the Great Wheal Mercy.
So in a month you were my wife,
and now / sit by a happy hearth, and
looking down on the happy faces OF
my wife and child, i thank God for
that GROWING mercy-thy love, dear
one-which saved me on New Years
Day from a dreadful death in the
shaft OF the Great Wheal Mercy.